


Denial

by butyoumight



Series: Since the Ocean is Our Coffin [2]
Category: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-21
Updated: 2011-06-21
Packaged: 2017-10-20 14:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/213965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butyoumight/pseuds/butyoumight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It took us months to find them again. <i>Months</i> they spent alone. Something happened. Basco changed him. Corrupted him. <i>Broke</i> him."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Denial

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate Universe. Follows up my [_Shuffling Your Deck of Trick Cards_](http://archiveofourown.org/series/8684) series.

It wasn't one of their easier victories, with Don still a little woozy and Gai injured. But they still managed to pull out ahead, disposing of the Commander leading the force before retreating to the Galleon as the cloud-cover finally broke into brilliant, slightly mocking sunshine.

Joe half-carried Gai onto the ship, Marvelous immediately behind him supporting Don with an arm around his waist. Gai was understandably confused by what he'd just been witness and subject to, and predictably couldn't seem to shut up about it.

"But who was he? What did he want? Why did he keep calling you that? Did you know him? Why did he run away?" He kept a running stream of questions going, somehow managing to never repeat himself, despite the complete lack of answers it was getting him. Joe settled him on the love seat and Ahim moved in to bandage the wound on his shoulder and the shallow cuts on his neck.

He finally settled down once Ahim left him with a pat on the knee and turned her attention to the small cut at Don's hairline.

"Marvelous." Luka moved to stand in front of the Captain where he'd settled into his chair, gripping the arm rests as if about to tear them off. "What are we going to do?"

Marvelous closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. "I don't know."

Joe retreated to the furthest corner of the room, facing the wall. He wanted to leave, to go to his own quarters and be alone to figure out what was happening to his life, but he knew he wouldn't be allowed to. He figured they wouldn't trust him not to run off and face the problem on his own, as he'd tried to do when he'd found out about Sid.

His lips still tingled from the aftershock of Basco's frantic kiss. It had been so sudden, so easy on Basco's part. He didn't want this, he knew in his heart that he did not belong with Basco. That was why he was so confused by his magnetic attraction to the man. He couldn't explain it, but he was certainly ashamed by it.

"Joe?"

Joe turned around. Marvelous was looking at him, his eyebrows drawn together.

"What do you think?"

Joe shook his head, crossing his arms uncomfortably. His shirt was still damp beneath his jacket, making it stick to his skin awkwardly.

"I don't know what to think." He answered honestly.

"He should be dead." Don growled, touching the bandage Ahim had placed on his head gingerly. "No one could have survived that."

"He must have had some plan of escape that we did not foresee." Ahim said softly.

Don exchanged a charged look with Marvelous, sharing some secret kept from the rest of the crew.

"We're definitely missing something." Luka fiddled absently with her rings, spinning them around her fingers. It was a nervous habit they all recognized.

"Joe, what did he say to you?" Marvelous asked. Joe blinked, then turned towards the wall again.

The things Basco had said were lingering in his mind, making his stomach twist into knots. He didn't want to repeat them, he didn't want Marvelous or any of them rest of them to know. It was probably be stupid of him, to keep these things to himself, but Basco's words had left him feeling ashamed and contaminated, a danger to his crew.

"He said he wouldn't rest until he had me back." That at least Joe could admit, because it was obvious enough.

"Is that it?"

"Basically."

Marvelous looked at him, frowning slightly, and Joe could feel that Marvelous didn't believe he was telling the entire truth. Marvelous had always been able to read him that way.

"What I do not understand is why he would flee." Ahim said carefully. "Does he not work with Zangyack?"

"He's a privateer. He's not technically one of theirs." Luka said, her tone making her contempt for the concept clear. "He just doesn't touch their ships, and so they don't touch his."

"Which still doesn't explain why he would take off. He had what he wanted," Don shot an apologetic glance towards Joe. "And then Zangyack arrives and he runs away. Like he's scared of them."

"Excuse me."

The crew all turned as one to look at Gai, who had his hand in the air.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking at each of them in turn.

Joe crossed his arms, hanging his head and avoiding meeting Gai's eyes when they turned on him. There was no answer for a long uncomfortable moment before Marvelous finally spoke up.

"It doesn't concern you."

Gai was outraged. He actually stood up from the love seat and took a step towards Marvelous, his fists clenched at his side. "What is that supposed to mean? Of course it concerns me!" He pointed at the bandage over his shoulder.

Marvelous shook his head, standing up to get in Gai's face, imposing his will as the Captain. "No. You will not be involved in this."

"Marvelous-san," Ahim said, moving closer to them and touching Marvelous' arm. "Perhaps we should tell him."

"No!" Marvelous pulled his arm from her, advancing on Gai, pressing him back towards the love seat again. "This is not for Earthlings."

"I'm not an Earthling!" Gai shouted back, and then immediately cowered, clearly surprised by his own daring. "I mean. I am, but I'm more than that. I'm a Gokaiger now! If any of you are in danger, I will fight to protect you. I want to help. I'm _going_ to help."

Joe crossed the room quickly to grab Marvelous' arm before he could strike Gai. He took a deep breath and then turned to face Gai, meeting his eyes for a fleeting moment before looking away again. "Marvelous, he deserves to know."

Marvelous snarled, pulling his arm away from Joe and turning away. "Are _you_ going to tell him?"

Joe hesitated. Gai was trying to catch his eye again, and he knew he couldn't. He took a step back, and then turned. He wanted to leave, but still he knew they probably wouldn't let him.

Gai made a discomfited little sound. "Please, tell me. Let me help."

"There's no help for it." Marvelous snapped at him. He crossed to Joe, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around to face him. "Joe. We need to talk."

Joe glanced at him, and he's sure the redness of Marvelous' eyes must be mirroring his own.

"Alone." Marvelous elaborates. He turns to catch Don's eye and nods once. "Doc. Luka. Ahim. Tell him what happened." He didn't sound defeated, just frustrated. "He's right, he's involved now."

Gai blinked, following Marvelous' look to stare at Don. Don nodded.

Marvelous led Joe out of the main room, down into the narrow hall that housed the doors to their individual quarters. Once they were alone, Marvelous wrapped his arms around Joe and pulled him close, falling back against the wall. He clutched Joe to him, feeling strangely frantic. Joe understood, and he held onto Marvelous in return.

"You won't be able to fight him." Marvelous muttered against Joe's neck. "You know that?"

Joe closed his eyes, frustrated with the sudden threat of tears.

"He hurt you. Maybe not physically, but he did. He did something to you, and you won't be able to fight him. You have to stay out of this."

"I can't." Joe gasped, shaking his head and digging his fingers into Marvelous' back. "I have to finish this. I have to fix it."

"Don't think I want this. I hate fighting without you at my back." The Captain's voice was shaking. "But you _will_ stay here, on the Galleon. I came too close to losing you again today. It won't happen again. He must be dealt with. He has to die."

Joe wished he knew why these words made his blood run cold, why it made him feel sick.

X

Gai folded his hands in his lap and sat on the edge of the love seat, looking at the three Gokaigers surrounding him. He tried to smile but it came off as more of a grimace. Something very serious was going on with his new comrades (oh, how he loved thinking of them in such terms), and it was upsetting them all. And anything that upset them had to be dealt with immediately, especially if it had to do with something so obviously evil as the man in black the Captain had called Basco.

Don stood in front of their newest companion, his arms crossed in a pretty reasonable facsimile of the stance Marvelous often used. The girls stood to either side of him, but they were all silent, none of them were particularly sure how to start.

"Who is he?" Gai prompted quietly, leaning forward and doing everything in his power to make it obvious that he was truly interested and invested in what they were going to tell him.

"Basco." Don answered shortly.

"Basco ta Jolokia, to be precise." Ahim elaborated.

Gai blinked. "What does he want with us?"

Luka shook her head. "Not with us. Just Joe."

Don sighed and closed his eyes, and finally began speaking. "Basco wanted the Greatest Treasure. A long time ago, he betrayed Marvelous and his Captain to Zangyack, to get the Ranger Keys and the Galleon, but he failed. Marvelous escaped with it all, and he gathered us as his crew, and brought us here. To find the Greatest Treasure." He emphasized this point and Gai decided not to point out how they were doing a lot more Saving The Earth Heroics than Treasure Hunting lately.

"Basco tracked him down. He had more Ranger Keys, mostly the ones you use. He wanted everything. We fought him, but he overpowered us. We lost, and he took we four as hostages. He was going to trade with Marvelous, us for the Keys and the Galleon. For the Treasure."

Gai nodded again, shifting uncomfortably. "But that didn't happen."

"No." Luka said. "Joe didn't let that happen. He secured our release, gave himself over to Basco in exchange."

"Completely." Don growled.

Gai stared at them. At Ahim's little downcast frown, Luka's blank expression but for a burning anger in her eyes, and mostly at Don's fierce snarl, not at all what Gai had become used to from the gold haired pirate.

"It took us months to find them again." Don said. " _Months_ they spent alone. Something happened. Basco changed him. Corrupted him. _Broke_ him."

"That's terrible." Gai said in a hushed whisper.

"We found them. We attacked. Took Joe back. Destroyed his ship. _He should have died_." Don spat the last words as though they offended him.

"Now he's back." Luka grumbled.

"And he wants Joe-san back." Ahim whispered.

Gai nodded, and then stood up from the love seat, clapping his hands. "We will defeat him first!"

Ahim made a soft sound that might have been a mirthless laugh. "I certainly hope so."


End file.
